Debated on whether or not to start this, but I figured it would at least be interesting to speculate on. Weis is done; Stoops has been thrown around for a while now, but I never thought he'd actually leave OU. Lately though, the rumors are getting stronger and keep circulating. A classmate here has a family member that works with the higher ups in the administration, and he has sworn it will be Stoops for the last few weeks. This was on a paid scout board.
If there was ever a time to leave and a job to leave for, this is it. I think if he doesn't leave in the next week or so, he'll be a Norman lifer. You never want to leave in the middle of a national title run (say, Mack Brown last year with Colt & company coming back). But this year would make an easy transition - you're coming off a bad year, there aren't national title expectations for next year, etc.
I think it would actually be much more awesome for my Ags. I don't even want to think about the number of recruiting battles we've come in 2nd to OU for over the last 10 years. With Stoops gone, we might be able to pull back in some of the top Texas defensive talent that we've been missing out on. Sure Texas will probably get better, but they are already getting most of who they want right now. A&M could significantly improve with Stoops gone.
LOL, what? Ideological purge? I hope ND doesn't find out that half of their players probably voted for Obama, they might have to hand out suspensions.
I think the reason they don't go for Kelly is that they've done the whole "up and coming" thing with Ty Willingham. They need a proven winner this time - if Stoops fails, at least the administration can say it wasn't a bad hire. As for Sumlin, I think Mike Stoops and Sumlin would have to be at the top of the list for OU (maybe Venebles too). And I imagine they'll get whoever they want in that regard. At the end of the day, I think the Stoops -> ND thing makes too much sense for everyone. I have to think it's the most likely scenario at this point. Stoops is slowly losing more and more recruiting efforts to Texas, he has a perfect time to opt-out, with a high-profile job in the midwest (where he's from), a new challenge, a fresh start, etc.
An opening at OU would be UH's worst nightmare. But I think the Coogs will be ok with Jason Phillips on staff as the new head coach.
I can't imagine why Stoops would turn down ND at this point, like others have said. Makes sense that OU would go after Sumlin if Stoops left. He would seem to be the obvious choice. Sadly, I also can't imagine why Sumlin would turn down OU at this point. It would suck if Lopez was right all along.
I don't think that OU would go after Sumlin just yet. They might interview him, but he wouldn't be a frontrunner for the hire.
Why? This makes no sense. Oklahoma can get a high-quality coach -- who recruits well -- from almost anywhere they want (Texas, USC, UF, etc not withstanding). Also, Texas needs OU to succeed. Yin and Yang...
From ND's perspective, the hope is Stoops could get us into the door of Texas recruiting. Texas is one of the biggest recruitment grounds, and ND barely pulls athletes from there. Who knows - hopefully by later this week we'll know for sure. I've got finals coming up, I can't take the in-between!
I'd be surprised if Oklahoma went after Sumlin. I know Sumlin's looked good at UoH so far, but he's still a pretty uninspiring name as a head coach on the national level. I would imagine Oklahoma would want a little more cache in the name they replaced Bob Stoops with.
